Yuxi City Suburbs
"Master Shoufu, Lord General, please step back a bit... Yes, step back beyond the red line."
Han Mo, who had already been transferred from the demon farm to the northern industrial base, called He Yue and Fang Shisan to retreat to a safe area. After the two of them were almost invisible, Han Mo called the soldiers in the distance. With a gesture, the soldier lay on the ground, ignited a long fuse, and then jumped into the trench dug in advance.
Han Mo also stepped into the ditch, covered his ears tightly with his hands, and silently counted the time until the fuse burned out.
5,4,3,2,1—
The sound of an explosion resounding through the sky came from the wilderness, and a black cloud rose into the sky, and then turned into billowing black smoke and drifted in the cold wind.
The ground trembled constantly, and the aftermath of the explosion set off a large amount of broken soil, sand, gravel, and dead branches and leaves, and swept them around. Even Han Mo, who was in the trenches, was not spared. Dust covered the whole body, but immediately after the explosion ended, he supported the trench and turned over, shouting to the surroundings in disgrace:
"Success!! Everyone—come and see!!"
Many people poked their heads out of the trench, not only soldiers in armor, but also some well-mannered young men in white study uniforms. The place in the middle of the explosion was still full of dust, but they ignored it, covered their mouths and noses with their clothes, and rushed over impatiently.
The center of the explosion has now become a piece of scorched earth. There is a huge deep pit on the ground, surrounded by a lot of brown soil. Some went down to the pit to check the specific situation, while the other stomped on it and rubbed their ears, feeling that even the eardrums were so painful from the shock just now.
"The scope of the explosion is wider than expected, and the destructive power is also higher than imagined."
"The stability is still insufficient, and there is no way to mass-produce it yet!"
"Speak to the R&D personnel of the artillery team, first submit some of the new gunpowder that has just been tested to them..."
"Manpower! Some of the manpower has to be mobilized, and the formula, use and power of the gunpowder must be clearly explained to them... I have met Mr. Shoufu and Mr. General."
The researchers were discussing the results of the explosion and the next move around the pit, when they suddenly saw He Yue walking towards them, they hurriedly stood at attention, hurriedly bowed to He Yue, and then gave a military salute to Fang Shisan . Both the gunpowder group and the artillery group are under the control of the Firearms Department of the Northern Industrial Base. The setting of this department is very interesting. It is not only under the jurisdiction of the internal affairs, but also under the jurisdiction of the army, so the researchers saw the etiquette of He Yue and Fang Shisan is different.
He Yue and Fang Shisan didn't care much about etiquette. To put it bluntly, it was just a restriction of dignity. The etiquette of Yuxi City is the simplest in all the territories. Things like three knocks and nine bows are basically abolished. Clasping fists, bowing and saluting are the most common etiquettes.
Fang Shisan's first reaction was to ask:
"What was the result of the explosion? Has anyone been injured? I have read the development report and effect prediction of black powder before. Did it meet everyone's expectations?"
Han Mo walked out from among the researchers, wiped the ashes on his face, and said:
"The result of the explosion was better than expected, and the brothers are all fine. I guess it will be fine in one night."
Fang Shisan nodded and heaved a sigh of relief. Like He Yue, she arrived here before dawn, with a tight string in her head, and now she can finally feel relieved:
"It's good if it goes well. People from the Shenji Battalion will go to the gunpowder team to connect with you soon, but I have heard from you before that it seems that some raw materials are not easy to obtain, and it may not be possible to produce in large quantities at this stage. Don't worry, God The people in the aircraft battalion will not immediately ask you for it, but will train with you for a period of time first, so please take care of it.”
As Fang Shisan said, he nodded slightly forward.
The people present only felt a warm current passing through their chests, raised their chests and raised their heads, and replied loudly:
"yes!"
He Yue folded her arms, stood aside, and said with a smile:
"Don't worry about research funding, and since the results have been achieved this time, the Ministry of the Interior will also allocate additional funds for rewards. According to the standards of the city lord, each person will have at least ten gold coins this time, and those who have made outstanding contributions will come again. Get more. The New Year is approaching, and the sales of wine have increased greatly. During this period of time, the wallet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been bulging, and it depends on whether you have the ability to empty it."
The researchers cheered.
He Yue waited for them to be happy before saying with a straight face:
"But having said that, please take good care of the recipe. Fang Shisan and I have full trust in you, but the Anbu of Yuxi City will not listen to us."
This is also the meaning of the question, and the researchers understand it very well. In their imagination, normally speaking, when the results are achieved, it is time to kill the donkey. All the recipes are as few people know the better. But Yuxi City is not. In He Yue's words, all researchers are valuable talents of Yuxi City. As long as their mouths are firm, Yuxi City will protect the wealth of their families for generations. Coupled with Anbu's complete supervision mechanism, no one will be stupid in this matter.
The other researchers and soldiers went back to the city for breakfast, and Han Mo stayed to discuss specific matters with He Yue and Fang Shisan.
Han Mo let out a breath, stretched his shoulders, and said:
"Master Shoufu, during this period of time, I have been in charge of various matters of the gunpowder team, and I feel a little emotional. In terms of lethality alone, gunpowder is actually limited. The large-scale explosion just now may be caused by Lord Alaya, Heji, etc. My lord can do it with a single sword, and Master Felita's magic can do even better. But gunpowder has an unparalleled advantage, because it is a dead thing, and it doesn't need to spend a lot of manpower, material resources, time and energy like cultivating a master. It can be used simply by making it. I think gunpowder is a very convenient thing for a territory like ours that has no background to train many masters."
He Yue nodded and said:
"I talked about this matter with the Lord of the City. Your idea is correct. The biggest problem now is actually the difficulty of production and the shortage of manpower. Even you were urgently transferred from the Magic Research Department next to the Firearms Department. After the successful test explosion I have to return you back... Last month, the school was officially separated from the northern industrial base, and a complete system of primary, secondary and higher education was established in the east of Yuxi City, collectively known as Yuxi Academy. But talent training is not achieved overnight. It will take at least three to five years for the first batch of suitable talents to come out."
Hanmo asked:
"The school has been separated? I remember that the school was subdivided into the science school, the military school, the political and economic school, and the literary school. How do you say it now, is it possible that everyone attends classes together?"
He Yue replied with a smile:
"Elementary level is basically required, and after secondary and higher education, you can learn what you are interested in. Hanmo, you have to go there to give lectures every week, don't forget this. At present, there are not enough teachers, and they are hired from outside with high salaries. Some, some are good, some are mediocre, Fang Shisan and I are also part-time lecturers, let’s get through the most difficult period first.”
Han Mo nodded, suddenly remembered something, and his face was a little excited:
"Speaking of which, I forgot to tell Mr. Shoufu and Mr. General that the Black Blood Group—that is, the research team responsible for studying the 'devil's blood' bought by Mr. City Master has made new progress. Some substances are separated from the blood, and some substances are very useful as fuel, and they are also miraculous as weapons! Currently, the people of the Black Blood Group are still researching, and I have a feeling that this kind of thing will become an endless world in the near future. I really don’t know how the city lord expected this, and bought such a large amount in advance, this is definitely a very cost-effective deal!”
Speaking of weapons, Fang Shisan also became interested, and listened to Han Mo's general talk about the devil's blood. It is said that fuel with very good performance is extracted from it, which can make incendiary bombs with excellent performance. And because Lide bought a large amount of devil's blood in one go, the number of incendiary bombs will be very considerable, and it is likely that they will be dropped on the battlefield earlier than gunpowder.
Fang Shisan conceived many kinds of combat plans in his mind almost instantly to match this fierce fire to create a fire attack.
According to Han Mo, the devil's blood is much more than refining burning substances.
"It's a pity that I have to go back to the Demon Research Department, otherwise I will definitely go there to study immediately. But this is also good, in fact, what I like most is dealing with demons, studying their characteristics, and analyzing their weaknesses. Next time If there are more demons invading, they will never come back."
After Han Mo finished speaking, he bowed deeply to He Yue and Fang Shisan, and bid farewell to the northern industrial base.
Only He Yue, Fang Shisan, Tila, the maid behind Fang Shisan, and the guard in charge of security in the distance remained in the wilderness. He Yue took Fang Shisan's wheelchair from Tila, pushed her slowly on the cement road, and said as she walked:
"It's good news that the matter of the firearms went well... Speaking of which, Yun Ye's letter arrived yesterday, saying that there was no agreement on the territory of King Huai, but the son of Qiming, Nuolun, agreed to reconcile with Yuxi City. The prerequisite is that if one day we don't Yun Ye is gone, Yun Ye is going to work with him."
Fang Shisan smiled and said:
"Then he'll have to wait a long, long time."
He Yue nodded and said in agreement:
"Yeah, I guess there is a high probability that I won't be able to wait for a lifetime. But if Qiming doesn't put pressure on him, Kaiya, Prince Huai's son, probably won't pick things up by himself. Before he finds his next ally, Prince Yunyang I don’t think I will get much support, so it will stop a little bit.”
Fang Shisan asked:
"Is the small treasury of your Ministry of the Interior really enough? The Shaoyu Battalion's armaments have just been replaced, and I heard that the firearms department is also spending a lot of money..."
He Yue said affirmatively:
"Enough, don't forget that there is still a batch of grain delivered from the Demon Race this year. The money owed to Baihuang has already been repaid, and there is still a lot of surplus. After the artillery team produces results, I will set up twenty or thirty for you It shouldn’t be a problem, and the Shenji Camp has a foundation. I didn’t say I wanted to set up an iron cavalry camp before, and the money is enough, but war horses can’t be bought with money, so we can only wait.”
Fang Shisan put his hands on his lap, and after a long time, he suddenly smiled and said:
"Heyue, do you think you will be surprised when Lide comes back?"
He Yue froze for a moment, glanced to the north, and said softly:
"Maybe. I hope that when he comes back, Yuxi City will become his solid backing and can do more things for him."
Thinking that Lide is now on the border of the giants, He Yue couldn't help but look worried, but soon smiled again.
Going north is a very dangerous thing, but their city lord is not an ordinary person.
Although Lide wished to sleep twenty hours a day on weekdays, but when he was critical... he never fell off the chain.